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The Squashed Tomato Challenge

A fun hands-on and brains-on challenge for Key Stage 2-5 ( ages 9-18)

Challenge your students to take on a real life problem affecting people in Nepal.

The problem: In Nepal many farmers living on the mountainside grow fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes. To earn a living they need to sell these at the local market. The problem is getting to market involves a long, dangerous walk down the mountain side and over a river, at the end of which the tomatoes may well be a bit squashed.

The challenge: To design, build and test a way of moving tomatoes that won't squash them!

The basic challenge is flexible enough to be adapted to any length upto a whole day challenge (for which secondary students can gain a British Science Association CREST Discovery Award), and enhancement activities are suggested if you wish to develop it further.

The activity is also accredited by the British Science Association as suitable to count towards a CREST Star Investigators SuperStar award ( for primary students) . For more information about the scheme please visit their website

The challenge can provide a focus for National Science and Engineering Week ; be used as a STEM or science club activity; enhance a lesson on forces/friction/levers; form the basis of an enrichment day; provide an activity for SEAL and PLTS and be the starting point for a range of cross-curricular activities. To view examples of how schools have used the Squashed Tomato Challenge go to Challenges in Schools.

Teacher's notes

All the information you need on how to run the Squashed Tomato Challenge with suggested extension activities

Have a look at a great article in Low-tech Magazine on the history of aerial ropeways which includes diagrams and information on a variety of different stuctures and and their uses.

Some quite interesting facts about tomatoes

The tomato is the world's most popular fruit. 60 millions tons are produce each year, 16 million more than the banana.

It used to be thought that tomatoes were poisonous. They come from the same family as deadly nightshade.

An average size tomatoes has 35 calories.

Tomatoes originated from South America, in the Andes. They were first cultivated in 700AD by Aztecs and Incas.

Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and fibre, and are cholesterol free.

The tomato was once considered to be an aphrodisiac. The French called it 'the apple of love'.

Tomatoes will keep longer if you store them stalk down.

Some quite bad tomato jokes!

Why did the tomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing

A family of three tomatoes were walking downtown one day when the little baby tomato started lagging behind. The big father tomato walks back to the baby tomato, stomps on her, squashing her into a red paste, and says, "Ketchup!"

What's a vampire's favourite soup? Scream of tomato.

Grace was looking at the red ripe tomatoes growing in the farmer’s garden. “I’ll give you a penny for that tomato,” said Grace, pointing to a beautiful, large, ripe fruit hanging on the vine.

“No,” said the farmer, “I get ten pence for a tomato like that one.”

Grace pointed to a smaller green one, “Will you take a penny for that one?”

“Yes,” replied the farmer, “I’ll give you that one for a penny.”

“OK,” said Grace, “I’ll pick it up in about a week.”

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